One of the commonest failings of mankind is to live in direct contradiction to the simplest rules of living that will prolong life and make it a healthy one. Mainly, it is the fault of blundering ahead without thinking of the consequences.

Or, we know better but believe there is plenty of time and it is not convenient to make changes right now. “A fool denies his errors, but a wise man learns from his successes, not his errors.”We must stop and reexamine our way of living.

Are we our own worst enemies? In too many cases the answer is yes. We must be constantly watchful if we are not to lose the precious gift of health and well-being. At this very moment you may be committing an error that will have an influence on you for the rest of your life.

The Seven Deadly SinsAre you contributing to future sickness and stealing years from the promised span of your life? The seven deadly sins of modern living are:

1. Are you a tobacco addict? Do you poison your whole system--your lungs, mouth, heart and blood stream--with deadly nicotine?

2. Do you drink? Whether the amount is moderate or excessive, alcohol affects your liver, kidneys and heart. Alcohol’s real effect is to depress not only your brain and blood stream but every organ of your body.

3. Do you overeat? Are some of your organs being required to function at more than their capacity because you will not curb your appetite? Do you deliberately put an extra strain on your muscles and bones by asking them to carry a greater weight than they were intended to bear?

4. Are you addicted to drugs of one sort or another—aspirin, alkalizers, bromides and sleeping pills? Do you reach for a ‘pain killer’ as soon as you feel the smallest ache or pain? If you do, you are not only poisoning your system but upsetting the balance that nature so carefully provided.

5. Do you drink coffee, tea or the cola beverages without thinking that they are undermining your health? They are drugs just as truly as aspirins or sleeping tablets.

6. Are you a faddist? Do you try all the latest pills or take unreasonable exercise or go on diets whose results are damaging to the system and may even bring death?

7. Are you a foam rubber prisoner? Are you a slave to the deep-cushioned arm chair and lazy comfort so that you cannot develop a habit of activity to produce healthful circulation of your blood.

If your answer to even one of these questions is yes, then you are your own worst enemy.Nothing, not even nature, can replace organs or tissues which have been destroyed by poison or neglect

Hope For A Healthy LifeI called the seven habits sins because they work against health and life. Some of them are little more than legalized murder.

Scientists are constantly turning up evidence that should scare people into living a rational life. People everywhere recognize that these things are dangerous. Sadly, though, the warnings go unheeded. They know but they do not act.

Blundering and short-sightedness are one thing. Sheer stupidity is another, and it can be called nothing else when people reject and ignore facts

There is not one part of the body that does not suffer, directly or indirectly, from overweight.There is only one thing to do about it. Stop overeating.

Sometimes, we overeat because we have fallen into bad habits or are thoughtless. More often, overeating is not purely physical. Just as we have seen that all diseases are conditions of both the body and the mind, so we see that often overindulgence in food is a psychological state.

What we have are the seeds of degenerative diseases. These diseases are in no way related to bacteria or accident. Heart ailments, arthritis, diseases of the veins and circulatory system are the result of deteriorating tissues.

Many people refer to them as a simple aging of the organism. All people must undergo this aging process. To all people death comes after a slow and steady loss of vitality and strength.

Learn From HistoryEach age in history is known for its particular disease or ailment. In the middle ages, it was the plague. It was brought on by the poor diet, the long hours of overwork and poor sanitation.

We associate the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with gout. People ate little in the way of fresh fruits and vegetables. Their diets were heavy with fat. Tuberculosis was the scourge of the nineteenth century. Homes and factories were sunless and poorly ventilated. Diets were deficient in vitamins.

Today the killing diseases are degenerative conditions of the heart, blood system and the brain. This breaking-down and wearing-out of the human body is, in all too many cases, brought on by the excesses and abuses of modern civilization.

Prolong Your Life NowTo live in harmony with nature is not simply a high-sounding phrase. It means just that--harmony. There must be no excess, but a blending of all that is good.

It is just as much of a mistake to eat nothing but wheat germ or drink nothing but orange juice as to dose your body with drugs and poisons. People like that are harming the progress of rational living.

Many problems can be traced back to lack of activity. How many people do you know who never stir from their chairs except to eat, sleep or go to the office?

Laziness of the body helps to break down the natural functioning of the system. Exercise is necessary to preserve a good digestion, to make elimination natural and effective, to stir up the circulation of the blood.

Advanced age is not a static, irreversible biological condition of unwavering decrepitude. Rather, it’s a dynamic state that, in most people, can be changed for the better no matter how many years they’ve lived or neglected their body in the past.

You do have a second chance to right the wrongs you’ve committed against your body. Your body can be rejuvenated. Your can regain vigor, vitality, muscular strength, and aerobic endurance you thought was gone forever.

No matter what your age, it’s not too late to turn over a new leaf and start building a lifestyle you can show off with pride, A good place to start is recognizing which of the seven deadly sins apply to you and start a plan to eliminate each one.

Gloria Hansen is an author and educator on consumer issues. She has a B.S. degree in Foods and Nutrition from Iowa State University. Go to her website,http://www.LivingBetterAndBetter.com to learn about lifestyle changes for optimum health, living life in abundance, feeling and looking great and changing your mind to change your world.